Using Concept Maps to Measure the Effects of Work Experience and Classroom Performance On Student Comprehension in a Senior Capstone Turfgrass Management Course.

Concept maps can be a useful tool for evaluating student understanding of more complex subject matter in the life sciences.   By comparing concept map scores before and after a learning assessment, it is possible to measure student comprehension of the material.  Additionally, it is possible to evaluate the effects of classroom performance and relevant work experiences on comprehension.  Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of classroom performance and work experience on concept map scores for students in a capstone turfgrass management course. Concept map scores were used to evaluate the effect of relevent previous work experience, classroom performance, age, and overall GPA on student comprehension of material related to advanced turfgrass management.  Concept map scores were positively related to previous work experience but unrelated to student performance in the class room.